Oh Come Off It!

Today’s screed is brought to you courtesy of a story someone mentioned to me the other day. I really shouldn’t have bee as incredulous as I was. I mean, really! Was it really too hard to believe that a certain segment of our population (the redneck right) would immediately expect the new administration had designs on their guns? Was that really such a stretch?

Apparently, there has been a run on guns since the election. The interview I heard yesterday was eye-opening. The idiot they were interviewing sounded like a refugee from the cast of Deliverance. He did everything but drop the “N” bomb when discussing how our next President wanted to deprive him of his god-given right to own a Howitzer if he wanted to!

A word to the wise… Uh… A word to those of you afraid that your rights will be impinged upon:

Where were you when the current administration canceled the first article of the Bill of Rights?

You certainly rallied around the flag when someone decided that any law no matter now well intentioned that even hints at removing the armor-piercing, heat-seeking bullets from your arsenal (you obviously need them for deer hunting, after all!) but allow the government to remove the right for free people to have their constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech, and you’re MIA!

And while we’re at it, the current administration has been all too expedient when it comes to trampling on most of the rest of the bill of rights.

Fourth Amendment: Protection from unlawful search and seizure… not while the Bush Administration is on its little witch hunt. They hired a whole department to listen into your calls… god forbid they thought your private conversations were “interesting!”

Fifth Amendment: The right to due process… unless the president thinks that it is a bad idea. Then he just invents justification to provide you of it. And you can forget about your habeas corpus rights!

Sixth Amendment: The right to trial by jury… Unless we decide you’re an “unlawful combatant” (whatever that is) and then we’ll just hold you ad infinitum. Let’s just hold you in an off-shore prison. You’ll eventually get your trial I guess. Hell may freeze over in the interim, but…

Eighth Amendment: Prohibition of Cruel and unusual punishment… I guess he has me here, though. If he sends your to another country that doesn’t have the bill of rights protection and if you just happen to get tortured or water boarded or whatever while you are there, can he really be held responsible? Nudge-nudge.

You’ve been out to lunch while your rights have been systematically revoked and the economy and the image of your country has gone to hell in a hand basket. But you’re just damn sure the new government is coming after your guns? I have news for you, Bubba!There is a recession on! The good old boy in the white house and his cronies have screwed-up the economy and made a general mess of things!

The new administration are going to be too busy fixing and cleaning-up after the current confederacy of dunces to be worried about whether you really need eighteen Kalatchnikovs for rustlin’ you up some ‘possums and some squirrels for tonight’s vittles! At least you’re helping to stimulate the economy in your own perverse way!

Wherever you are, I hope that you are having a good and stress-free day!

Don Bergquist - November 10, 2008 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA